Sugar & Vinegar

The second largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.* came out flatly last week against church unity. At the Southern Baptist Convention's 94th annual session, in San Francisco, some 7,000 "messengers" of the 7,079,839-member church passed a strong resolution denouncing "compromising" ecumenical movements:

"We hereby reaffirm our conviction that Southern Baptists cannot enter into organic connection with the National Council of Churches, the World Council of Churches or any other unionizing organization which would compromise Baptist principles and doctrines as revealed in the inspired word of God . . ." Another resolution recommended "that Southern Baptists begin now to prepare ... to meet the challenge of the changing conditions in American Christianity."

Bad Mixture. The Rev. Robert G. Lee of Memphis, Tenn., retiring president of the Convention, warned against "ecumenical adventures." Most Southern Baptists, he said, "believe that Christian unity in any body which does not adhere strictly to the divine principles of evangelical truth embodied in the New Testament is as impossible as to expect vinegar and sugar to mix without vinegar losing any sourness or sugar any sweetness."

Although this attitude marked a sharp contrast with that of the American (Northern) Baptist Convention, which last fortnight edged a bit closer to union with the Disciples of Christ (TIME, June 25), the Southern brethren hastened to catch up with the Northerners in one department: "Whereas the Northern Baptist Convention has changed its name so that it is continental in scope [we recommend that] Southern Baptist boards and agencies be free to serve as a source of blessing-to any community or any people anywhere in the United States."

New Freedom. Explained one official: "It's like giving your daughter permission to leave the house at courting time. You allow her to go to a dance or the movies. She wasn't hemmed in at home before--nor were we--but now she can get around more freely. And so can we."

Clicking off resolutions and decisions with well-drilled, democratic precision, the Southern Baptists also:

P: Elected as president of the Convention the Rev. James D. Grey, 44, Kentucky-born pastor of New Orleans' First Baptist Church, who is described by his colleagues as "conservative theologically."

P: Unanimously appealed to U.S. Government leaders not to let the country become a militarized state but "to strive continuously toward the ultimate goal of world peace."

P: Reaffirmed their stand against "the unprincipled and misleading advertising [of liquor] by press, radio and, more recently, by television."

P: Warned against mixed marriages with Roman Catholics: ". . . We reaffirm both the sacredness of an individual's religious faith, in which the husband and wife must be equally free and that a fundamental tenet of our faith is violated if either the husband or wife is forced to sign away the religion of unborn children."

* Largest: the Methodist Church, with 8,900,000 members.

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